Christopher Hart - Top Ten Essentials

Compilation copyright 2013 by Christopher Hart, Cartoon Craft LLC, Star Fire LLC, and Art Studio LLC

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Watson-Guptill Publications, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

www.crownpublishing.com
www.watsonguptill.com

WATSON-GUPTILL is a registered trademark and the WG and Horse designs are trademarks of Random House, Inc.

This work is based on the following titles by Christopher Hart published by Watson-Guptill Publications, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.: Mania Bishoujo , copyright 2005 by Christopher Hart; Manga Mania Chibi and Furry Characters , copyright 2006 by Christopher Hart; Manga Mania Magical Girls and Friends , copyright 2006 by Christopher Hart; and Manga for the Beginner Chibis , copyright 2010 by Star Fire LLC.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hart, Christopher, 1957
Top ten essentials : Christopher Harts draw manga now! / Christopher Hart. First Edition.
pages cm
1. Comic books, strips, etc.JapanTechnique. 2. DrawingTechnique. I. Title.
NC1764.5.J3H377 2013
741.51dc23
2013002121

eBook ISBN: 978-0-385-34541-5
Trade Paperback ISBN: 978-0-385-34544-6

Cover and book design by Ken Crossland

v3.1

Welcome to Draw Manga Now! Top Ten Essentials . This book gives you the most common, most important, and most practical techniques used by professional manga artists, shown in short form, so that you can flip to them quickly and easily. It also looks at common trends and character types that appear everywhere in manga, regardless of the genre. I can guarantee that all of the steps and instructions are easy to follow yet still teach you everything you need to know. You might even have some fun along the way! This is the essential crash course in manga that youve been waiting for.

This book may look small, but its jam-packed with information, artwork, and instruction on the top ten elements that are essential to drawing manga like a master!

Well start off by diving right in to the relevant specifics you need to know now! Pay close attention; everything builds on these basics. You might want to practice drawing some of the things in this section before moving on to the next one.

Then, itll be time to pick up your pencil and get to actually drawing complete iconic manga characters! Youll follow my step-by-step illustrations on a separate piece of paper, drawing the characters in this section using everything youve learned so far.

Finally, Ill put you to the test! The last section includes images that are missing some key features. Itll be your job to finish these drawings, giving the characters the elements they need.

This book is all about learning, practicing, and, most important, having fun. Dont be afraid to make mistakes. If you dont make any mistakes, that means youre not attempting to tackle new techniques. In fact, the more mistakes you make, the more youre learning. Also, the examples are meant to be guides; feel free to elaborate and embellish as you wish. Before you know it, youll be a manga artist in your own right!

Lets begin!

The eyes are, hands down, the most important and characteristic feature of manga characters, so well start with them. Manga characters are, by definition, set up to feature the eyes as the center of focus. Manga eyes are oversized, contrasting with the rest of the facial features, which typically get less detail.

To make the eyeball itself sparkle, youll need to use contrast. That means you need to draw shines amidst heavy pools of black. Shines only sparkle when surrounded by dark areas. But if the dark area is pure black, the shines may end up looking like white spots, not reflective or moist, which is what youre after.

To lay down their eye shines, manga artists use solid black areas with streaked lines that mimic the look of irises. The results are so effective that the eyes seem to almost glitter. This streaked effectmigrating out of the pools of darkness, combined with multiple shines of varying sizesmakes the eyes really pop. In addition, note the natural path that the eyelashes take, as well as the heavy lines of the eyelids.

Gentle

Note the crease lines.
Basic outline and lashes.
Fill in the blacks.
Add streak lines.

Sultry

Combine small shines with large shines.

Intense

Tone with highlights.

Tearful

Suspicious

Encouraged

Silly

Puzzled

Angry

Hopeless

Moist-Eye Variations

Pupils become very large and irregularly shaped. Tears bubble over.